System comprising tape cartridge and recording/reproducing apparatus for the tape cartridge

Abstract: A tape cartridge is arranged so that when an upper lid of a pocket portion of the tape cartridge is in a position for opening the upper side of the pocket portion, the upper lid is positioned above an upper surface of a casing body so that a lower surface of the upper lid faces the upper surface of the casing body through a gap in which a member of a recording/reproduction apparatus for depressing the cartridge can be placed. When the upper lid is in the position for opening the upper side of the pocket, the cartridge depressing member of the recording/reproduction apparatus is placed in the gap to depress the cartridge, whereby the cartridge can be stably depressed to and mounted in a predetermined position in the recording/reproduction apparatus when the cartridge is loaded in the apparatus.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a tape cartridge and to a system comprising a tape cartridge and a recording/reproducing apparatus for the tape cartridge and, more particularly, to a small-scale tape cartridge having a two-lids structure in which a pocket or mouth portion, for receiving a head of the recording/reproducing apparatus upon loading of the cartridge in the recording/reproducing apparatus, is formed in a front portion of a casing body of the tape cartridge, and in which a tape of the tape cartridge extending across the pocket portion is covered with the two or three lids when the cartridge is not loaded. With respect to tape cartridges described in this description, "front (side)" denotes a side of the tape cartridge facing the head, "upper (side)" denotes a side of the cartridge where the lids are positioned when opened, "transverse (end)", "side" and "left and/or right" correspond to (end) portion or portions of the pocket portion located oppositely in the lengthwise direction of the tape extending in the pocket portion. Description of the Related Art A double-lid or two-lids structure of tape cartridges of this kind. e.g., an 8 mm video tape cartridge shown in Fig. 9, is known which has a front lid 202 capable of opening and closing a front side of a pocket 201, and an inner lid or back or rear lid 205 capable of opening and closing a non-magnetic surface side of a magnetic tape 204 by moving along guide grooves 203 in side walls of the pocket 201. See Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 58-128069, 61-210585 and 61-210587, for example. Further, in order to reduce the size of a recording/reproduction mechanism or apparatus for such a tape cartridge, a cylinder/cartridge overlapping system is well known in which, as shown in Fig. 10, a cylindrical head or cylinder with the read/write head 206 of the recording/reproduction apparatus enters the pocket 201 of the cartridge at the time of cartridge loading. See, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 60-163264 and 60-171684. In this structure, if the cylinder (cylinder drum) 206 is introduced deep into the pocket of the 8 mm video cartridge to an excessively large extent, there is a possibility that the cylinder 206 may interface with a part of the inner or back lid 205, for opening/closing the non-magnetic face side of the tape 204, as shown in Fig. 10. Recently, various technologies have been developed to meet a demand for magnetic recording/reproduction apparatuses such as video cameras (VTRs, i.e., video tape recorders and/or players) smaller in size and weight. In general, the size of a VTR mechanism is determined by shapes of the cylinder and the tape cartridge (cassette). Accordingly, for reduction in the size of the mechanism, it is necessary to reduce the size(s) of the cylinder and/or the cartridge. Therefore, attempts have been made to reduce the diameter of the cylinder by increasing the rotational speed and/or increasing the tape winding angle and other measures and to develop a compact cassette (cartridge) having an external size smaller than that of the digital audio tape (DAT) cassette. It is desirable to solve beforehand the above-mentioned problem of contact or interferece between the cylinder and the inner lid so as to enable to use such a new cartridge. In a conventional tape cartridge as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the inner lid 205 having an upper lid portion 207 serving as an upper lid and a back lid portion 208 serving as a back lid is brought into substantial contact with an upper surface 210 of a cartridge casing body 209, when the inner lid 205 is in an open state, as shown in Fig. 10. Accordingly, a cartridge pressing portion 212 of transport or transfer means 211, which moves the tape cartridge in a direction of arrow A to a predetermined position in the recording/reproduction apparatus at the time of loading of the cartridge in the apparatus, presses the casing body 209 in the direction A at a position thereof on the back or rear side (in a direction B) of the inner lid 205 set in the open position. However, the inventors of the present invention have found out that there is a risk of failure to appropriately press the cartridge casing body 209 in the direction A by such pressing if the cartridge is smaller. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge capable of being stably loaded in a recording/reproduction apparatus. A second object of the present invention is to provide a recording/reproduction apparatus capable of being stably loaded with a tape cartridge. To achieve the objects according to the present invention, there is provided a tape cartridge as defined in claim 1 and a tape recording/reproducing system as defined in claim 5 Further embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape cartridge of the system in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an appearance, in an unused (unloaded) state, of the tape cartridge shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an appearance, in a used (loaded) state, of the tape cartridge shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side view of the cartridge as seen in a direction of arrow D in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the cartridge taken along the line V - V of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a side view of a state, of cartridge transport means when the cartridge is in the unloaded state; Fig. 6A is a plan view of a cartridge-supporting tray; Fig. 7 is a side view of a state of the cartridge transport means when the cartridge is in the loaded state; Fig. 7A is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the cartridge transport means; Fig. 7B is a schematic illustration of another modification of the cartridge transport means; Fig. 8 is a side view of an example of an 8 mm video tape cartridge contemplated by the inventors to facilitate insertion of a cylinder into the opening in the process of achieving the present invention; Fig. 9 is a longitudinal side-sectional view, in a lid-closing state, of a part of a conventional 8 mm video tape cartridge; Fig. 10 is a longitudinal side-sectional view, in a lid-opening state, of the part of the conventional 8 mm video tape cartridge shown in Fig. 19; DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A system in accordance with the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 through 7 and Fig. 8. An example of the means for solving the problem that the inventors of the present invention have contemplated in the process of achieving the invention to accomplish the second object of the invention, will first be described with reference to Fig. 8. Referring to Fig. 8, a member 250 is an upper lid, and guide grooves 251 are formed in side walls of a cartridge casing body 209 to guide the upper lid 250. That is, if the upper lid 250 capable of opening and closing an upper side of a mouth or pocket portion 201 by its movement along the guide grooves 251 is attached, a cylindrical head, i.e. cylinder for the head, 206 can deeply enter the pocket portion 201 when the lids are opened, so that the overall size of the mechanism for this tape cartridge can be reduced. However, if a certain effect of preventing dust from entering the tape cartridge through the lower side of the pocket portion 201 is required in the arrangement shown in Fig. 8, it is necessary to attach a slider (not shown), such as that adopted for the DAT cassette (cartridge), for opening and closing the lower side of the pocket portion 201, or an inner lid 205, such as that shown in Fig. 20. When the inner lid is attached, it is necessary to form guide grooves 203 for enabling the desired movement of the inner lid in inner surface of the side walls of the cartridge body 209. Therefore, the guide grooves 251 of the upper lid 250 are required be formed in outer surfaces of the side walls of the cartridge body 209. Accordingly, the guide grooves 251 are exposed outside the cartridge, and there is therefore a risk of dust entering the grooves 251 so that a mass of dust is formed therein during use for a long time. Also, the grooves 251 can easily be damaged by an impact or the like. In such situations, there is a possibility that the upper lid 250 cannot be operated desirably. In the case of this completed example, it should be noted that a gap 252 may be formed between lids 202, 250 and an upper surface 210 of the casing body 209. The first embodiment of the present invention will now be described below in detail with reference to Figs. 1 through 7. The construction of the tape cartridge will first be described with reference to Figs. 1 through 5. Referring to Fig. 1, the tape cartridge is formed of a casing body 1 in which a magnetic tape 4 is accommodated, a front lid 28 capable of moving pivotally on the casing body 1, and an upper lid 29 capable of moving pivotally on the front lid 28. In the casing body 1, a wind-up or take-up reel 5 and a supply reel 6 are provided. Each of these reels 5, 6 is formed of a center hub (not shown) and upper and lower flanges 24 and 25, and is biased downwards by a plate or leaf spring 26. In a front section of the casing body 1, a mouth portion or pocket 7 is defined by an inner wall 8, and pocket side walls 9 formed on the left and right hand sides of the inner wall 8. In front portions of side walls 1b of the casing body 1, guide grooves 30 and holes 31 are formed. The guide grooves 30 are engaged with shafts 29d projecting from lid arms 29b of the upper lid 29 to enable the upper lid 29 to move forwardly or rearwardly. The holes 31 are engaged with or fitted around pivots 28d projecting from side walls 28b of the front lid 28 to enable the front lid 28 to move pivotally. A torsion coil spring 32 serves to constantly urge the front lid 28 to the closing direction. The spring 32 is engaged with spring hooks 33 and 34. As shown in Fig. 1, the upper lid 29 has an upper side plate 29a having a cut-out portion 29h in its front side and capable of closing the upper side of the pocket 7, and cylindrical connecting portions 29c formed continuously with left and right end portions of the upper side plate 29a. In these connecting portions 29c, holes 29e are formed, which can be fitted to connecting pivots 28e of the front lid 28. On distal end portions of the lid arms 29b formed perpendicularly on the left and right ends of the upper plate 29a, the shafts 29d capable of engaging with the above-mentioned guide grooves 30 are formed so as to project inwardly. On outer surfaces of the lid arms 29b, accommodated portions or thin wall portions 29f are formed, for example, by cutting the lid arms 29b to a depth corresponding to the thickness of the side walls 28b of the front lid 28, as shown in Fig. 5. Accordingly, the side walls 28b of the front lid 28 and the arms 29b of the upper lid 29 are in an overlapping relationship each other when the upper lid 29 and the front lid 28 are connected. As shown in Fig. 1, the front lid 28 has a front wall 28a which can close the front side of the pocket 7, and the above-mentioned side walls 28b formed integrally with the left and right ends of the front wall 28a so as to extend rearward. The front wall 28a has a projecting portion 28c formed by upwardly extending a part of its central portion, and the above-mentioned connecting pivots 28e project transversely outward from two side surfaces of the projecting portion 28c. Accordingly, the upper lid 29 is connected to the front lid 28 pivotally with the holes 29e of its connecting portions 29c fitted to the connecting pivots 28e. The operation of the tape cartridge will be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. When the cartridge is in a state of being not used, i.e., in an unloaded state shown in Fig. 2, the front lid 28 covers the front side of the pocket portion 7 of the cartridge, while the upper lid 29 covers the upper side of the front pocket portion 7 of the cartridge, whereby the magnetic tape 4 extending through the pocket 7 between tape lead-out openings 1h is protected or shielded from dust. When the cartridge is in a state of being used, i.e., a loaded state shown in Fig. 3, the front lid 28 is pivotally moved on the casing body 1 to open the front side of the pocket 7, thereby exposing the magnetic tape 4. By being linked to this movement, the upper lid 29 slides rearwardly along the guide grooves 30 of the casing body 1 to open the upper side of the pocket 7. As a result, a cylindrical head, i.e. cylinder having a head (not shown) of a recording/reproduction apparatus can advance deeply into an inner portion of the opened pocket 7. Thus, an overall size of the mechanism of the apparatus can be reduced. In this tape cartridge, the guide grooves 30 are covered with the side walls 28b of the front lid 28 when the cartridge is not used, thereby preventing dust from entering the guide grooves 30 as well as preventing the guide grooves 30 from being damaged. Next, an embodiment of a recording/reproduction apparatus having a cartridge transport or transfer means 43 for loading the thus-constructed tape cartridge in a predetermined position in a main body 42 of the recording/reproduction apparatus will be described with reference to Figs. 6, 6A and 7. As shown in Figs. 6, 6A and 7, a cartridge holder or cartridge-supporting tray 44 for inserting the cartridge thereinto is provided, which is formed of a bottom wall 44b, a top wall 44c and left and right side walls 44d. A plurality of cartridge pressing springs (cartridge pressing means or portions) 45 are arranged in the widthwise or transverse direction of the cartridge, as shown in Fig. 6A. However, only one spring 45 may be provided at a center in the widthwise direction, or three or more springs 45 may be provided. Members 46 and 47 are link levers. Side plates 48 support the link levers 46 and 47 swingably or slidably. Lid opening pin 49 are integrally fixed to the side plates 48. A cartridge positioning pin 50 and cartridge mount pin 51 are provided on a chassis of 52 of the body 42 of the recording/reproduction apparatus. Other portions of the recording/reproduction apparatus body 42 are well known (see, for example, U. S. Pat. No. 3,900,171) and will not be described and illustrated. The operation of this cartridge transport or transfer means will be described below. The states of the tape cartridge shown in Figs. 6 and 7 correspond to the lid-opening state and lid-closing state shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. When the tape cartridge indicated by a thick solid line in Fig. 6 is pushed into the cartridge-supporting tray 44 in the direction of arrow F to a position as indicated by an imaginary line in Fig. 6, the upper surface of the tape cartridge is pressed by the cartridge pressing springs 45 and the tape cartridge is brought into abutment against a positioning projection 44a formed on the cartridge-supporting tray 44 so that the insertion movement of the tape cartridge is stopped. From this state, the cartridge supporting tray 44 is depressed to be set in the body 42 of the apparatus. The tape cartridge is thereby placed in a position determined by the cartridge positioning pin 50 and the cartridge mount pin 51 while being retained by being pressed by the cartridge pressing springs 45, as shown in Fig. 7. Further, at the front portion of the cartridge, the lid opening pins 49 and the front lid 28 contact each other, the front lid 28 is thereby moved pivotally and opened, and the upper lid 29 is slid rearward and opened. By this opening operation, the upper lid 29 is moved above the top wall 44c of the cartridge-opening tray 44 and the springs 45 as pressing members (means). A cartridge pressing region G in which the cartridge is pressed by the pressing springs 45 during this lid opening operation is located in a gap 53, i.e., a space, formed between a lower surface 29j of the upper lid 29 and an upper surface 1j of the casing body 1. The width M of the gap 53 through which the pressing means 45 is inserted corresponds to the width of the region of the lids 28 and 29 excluding the left and right side walls thereof, as shown in Fig. 3. The reason for this pressing region setting is as described below. There is a problem of the cartridge being lifted on the front side thereof by the reaction of torsion spring 32 urging the front lid 28 if the cartridge pressing springs 45 are placed at a position corresponding to a rear or backward portion of the cartridge. That is, in a cartridge having the upper lid 29, the upper lid 29 covers a majority of or substantial part of the upper surface 1j of the cartridge casing body 1 when the lids are opened. For example, if the size of the cartridge in the direction of depth of the cartridge-supporting tray 44 is H as shown in Fig. 7, a region J in which the cartridge pressing springs 45 do not interfere with (overlap) the upper lid 29 has a depth which is substantially H/2. In this case, the upper lid 29 occupies a substantially part of the upper surface 1j of the cartridge casing body 1. In the conventional art, it has been necessary to provide cartridge pressing springs in the region J where the cartridge pressing springs do not interfere with the upper lid. If pressing springs (not shown) are provided in the region J, i.e., in positions such as to face the rear part of the cartridge, the cartridge is likely to be lifted on the front side thereof by the reaction of the torsion spring 32 which urges the front lid to close the same. This problem may be, in a sense, solved by setting the pressing force of the pressing springs to a larger magnitude. However, if the cartridge becomes smaller than the DAT cassette (cartridge), and if the pressing force of the pressing springs is increased, a new problem then arises in that the cartridge can not be inserted easily into the cartridge-supporting tray 44. In contrast, in the case of the cartridge and the recording/reproducing apparatus in accordance with the invention, the pressing springs 45 are inserted in the gap 53 between the upper lid 29 and the casing body 1 of the cartridge. Therefore, the pressing region G of the pressing springs 45 is located just below the upper side plate 29a of the upper lid 29 and closer to the front end of the cartridge, thereby making it possible to prevent the cartridge from being lifted on the front side. Correspondingly, the pressing force of the pressing springs 45 can be set to a smaller magnitude to enable the cartridge to be easily inserted. Consequently, the pressing range can be extended toward the front end of the cartridge to an amount corresponding to the length of the space 53 to enable cartridge to be loaded with improved stability in comparison with the case of setting pressing springs in the region J corresponding to the rear part of the cartridge. As shown in Fig. 7A, a part of a region G1 in which the casing body 1 is pressed by springs 45 provided as pressing means may project rearward out of the gap 53. Also, needless to say, portions of the pressing means 45 and the pressing means-supporting member (wall 44c of the cartridge-supporting tray 44) not brought into contact with the upper surface 1j of the casing body 1 may be extended to rearward of the upper surface 1j of the casing body 1. Further, the arrangement may alternatively be such that, as shown in Fig. 7B, the cartridge (casing body 1) is depressed directly by a lower surface 44e of the top wall 44c of the cartridge supporting tray 44. In such a case, the bottom wall 44b or the side walls 44d of the cartridge-supporting tray 44 may be pulled down by a suitable transport (displacement) means 46a. A connection 45c between the pull down means 46a and the cartridge-supporting tray 44 comprises an elastic connection means such as a spring. In this tape cartridge and the recording/reproduction apparatus loaded with the tape cartridge, as described above, the cartridge is constructed so that a gap is formed between a lower surface of an upper lid and an upper surface of a casing body of the cartridge when the lid is opened at the time of cartridge loading, and so that at least a part of cartridge pressing means (pressing portion) in a transport means of the recording/reproduction apparatus can be inserted into the gap. Also, the cartridge and the recording/reproduction apparatus are arranged so that at least a part of the pressing means for pressing and holding the cartridge in the transport means for moving the cartridge to a predetermined position in the apparatus is positioned in the gap (space) between the upper lid and the upper surface of the cartridge casing body and at a front portion of the cartridge. Therefore, the tape cartridge can be stably loaded into a predetermined position of the apparatus without fear that a front part of the cartridge is lifted relative to a rear part thereof. Also, guide grooves for sliding the upper lid rearwardly when the tape cartridge is not used are covered with a front lid to prevent dust from entering the guide grooves. Therefore, the guide grooves are prevented from being damaged and the upper lid can be moved stably. In this manner, a tape cartridge and a recording/reproduction apparatus having improved reliability can be provided.

Claims: A tape cartridge comprising: a casing body (1, 209) having in a front portion thereof a pocket (7, 201); a front lid (28, 202) movably attached to said casing body (1, 209) so as to open and close a front side of the pocket (7, 201); and an upper lid (29, 250) movably attached to said casing body (1, 209) so as to open and close the upper side of the pocket (7, 201); characterized in that when said upper lid (29, 250) is in an opening position for opening the upper side of said pocket (7, 201), said upper lid (29, 250) is positioned above an upper surface (1j, 210) of said casing body (1, 209) so that a lower surface (29j) of said upper lid (29, 250) faces the upper surface (1j, 210) of said casing body (1, 209) through a gap (53, 252) therebetween. A tape cartridge according to claim 1, characterized in that said gap (53, 252) is positioned at a front portion of the upper surface (lj, 210) of said casing body (1, 209). A tape cartridge according to claim 2, characterized in that said gap (53, 252) is positioned within a region corresponding to a front half of the upper surface (1j, 210) of said casing body (1, 209). A tape cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a back lid (109) for closing a tape extending region of the pocket on a back side of a tape when the tape cartridge is not loaded. A tape recording/reproducing system including an apparatus for performing recording and/or reproducing on and/or from a tape (14) and a tape cartridge containing the tape, the tape cartridge including a casing body (1, 209) having in a front portion thereof a pocket (7, 201) for receiving a head (206) of said apparatus when the tape cartridge is loaded in said apparatus, a front lid (28, 202) movably attached to the casing body so as to open and close a front side of the pocket (7, 201), and an upper lid (29, 250) movably attached to the casing body (1, 209) so as to open and close an upper side of the pocket (7, 201); said apparatus comprising: a recording/reproducing apparatus body having an aperture through which the tape cartridge is inserted; and cartridge transport means (43) for moving the tape cartridge to a predetermined position in said apparatus body by pressing an upper surface (1j, 210) to the cartridge inserted in said apparatus body; characterized in that when the upper lid (29, 250) is in an opening position for opening the upper side of the pocket (7, 201), the upper lid (29, 250) is positioned above the upper surface (lj, 210) of the casing body (1, 209) so that a lower surface (29j) of the upper lid (29, 250) faces the upper surface (lj, 210) of the casing body (1, 209) through a gap (53, 252) therebetween allowing a pressing portion (44c) for depressing the cartridge to be placed therein, said cartridge transport means (43) having the pressing portion (44c) adapted to be placed at least partially in the gap (53, 252) between the lower surface (29j) of the upper lid (29, 250) in the opening position above the casing body (1, 209) and the upper surface (1j, 210) of the casing body (1, 209) to downwardly press the upper surface (1j, 210) of the tape cartridge. A tape recording/reproducing system according to claim 5, further comprising a cartridge-supporting tray (44) in said apparatus body to receive the tape cartridge inserted through the aperture of said apparatus body, wherein the pressing portion (44c) of said cartridge transport means is adapted to downwardly press the upper surface (lj, 210) of the tape cartridge when the tape cartridge is received in said cartridge-supporting tray (44). A tape recording/reproducing system according to claim 5, characterized in that said cartridge transport means (43) includes elasticity means (45, 45c) for elastically performing said downward pressing of the tape cartridge. A tape recording/reproducing system according to claim 7, characterized in that said pressing portion (44c) comprises said elasticity means (45).

Inventors: MAEHARA YOSHIMI, MASUDA KENMEI, MIZUTANI HIKARU, NISHIJIMA TATSUMI, OGIRO KENJI, TAKEDA HIDEKAZU, MAEHARA, YOSHIMI, MASUDA, KENMEI, MIZUTANI, HIKARU, NISHIJIMA, TATSUMI, OGIRO, KENJI, TAKEDA, HIDEKAZU, MASUDA, KENMEI, GURINPAKU TOTSUKA, NISHIJIMA, TATSUMI, KOTOHIRUZU SHONAN, TAKEDA, HIDEKAZU, TOWA SHITICOPU
Applicants: HITACHI LTD, HITACHI MAXELL, HITACHI MAXELL LTD., HITACHI, LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: G11B23
IPC codes: G11B15, G11B23